Antiaircraft shell



Patented Jan. 30, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE ANTIAIRCRAFT SHELLEdward Brooks Wise, Butler, Pa. Application September 17, 1942, SerialNo. 458,694

1 Claim.

The invention relates to explosive devices, and more particularly toshells designed for the purpose of disabling enemy aircraft.

The action of the'shell may be compared to that of the well known chainshot formerly used, for example, in naval engagements for carrying awayrigging and the like. Th function of my improvement is similar to thatof the chain shot except that the present invention is primarilydesigned for the purpose of disabling aircraft, and instead of using twocannons for firing a pair of interconnected projectiles I employ asingle shell made up of a number of parts, some of which drop off inflight, leaving the nose and butt of the shell connected by a longcable, which interconnected parts continue their flight turn ing endover end and cutting an effective path which is substantially twice thelength of the extended cable. Should the projectile come in contact witha moving plane the flying weights connected by the long cableimmediately wrap themselves about the plane in such a manner as to putthe plane out of action. The projectile is as effective when descendingas when ascending.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawing and the following detailed description, in whichFig. 1 is a view in longitudinal section showing a shell embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the end portions of the shell connected by acable after the shell has exploded;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3,-3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of theprojectile.

Referring to the drawing, A denotes generally the base or butt portionof the shell, Bthe nose portion, C a longitudinally divided body portionadapted to fit in recessed ends of the base and nose respectively, Ddenotes a tube enclosing a powder chamber, and E designates the cablecoiled about the tube D and housed within the casing C. The two halvesof the body portion are assembled upon the end portions by means ofshear pins or the like, and such body portion serves as a housingenclosing the powder chamher and the flexible cable.

When the powder charge is exploded the body portion flies off, the noseand base are separated the length of the cable, and on separation of thenose and base portions the tube D is released and it also drops off andfalls to the ground.

The base A and nose B may be shaped simishell. The base may be providedwith the usual collar ID for engaging the rifle grooves of the gun toproduce rotation of the shell during flight so as to insure accuracy indirection. The nose is provided with the usual timing apparatus II whichis adapted to set off a powder chain extending through a recess I 2 to apowder chamber 13 herein shown as housed within the tube D. The nose andbase are centrally recessed at M and i5 to receive the ends of the tubeD. Members A and B are also provided with eccentric recesses l6 and I!adapted to receive screw .threaded plugs l8 and I9 carrying the ends ofthe cable E which is suitably wound upon the tube D.

The body portion C provides a housing for the cable and for the powdercharge. The ends of the casing C are beveled to fit correspondinglybeveled recesses in the nose and base .respectively. The shell islongitudinally divided into two halves 20 and 2| which are secured to'the base and nose by means of a plurality of shear pins 22. v

The completed shell is similar in appearance to shells in ordinaryuseand is fired from a gun in the ordinary manner, the fuse having firstbeen set for the desired range. At a predetermined point the powder inthe chamber I 3 explodes, thereby shearing pins 22, whereupon the twohalves of the casing C drop off and the ends.

. has an end over end tumbling movement which greatly increases theeffectiveness of the projectile.

In the event of contact with aircraft the plane striking any part of theextended cable stops its flight and the momentum of the base and nose oneither end of the cable causes the cable to.

immediately wrap around the plane, thereby jamming the control anddisabling the plane.

It will be understood that shells of various size may be employed. For a4" calibre shell havin a body length of sixteeninche it has been foundthat there is sufiicient room to coil approximately one hundred andforty feet of A" cable upon the tub D.

The invention has been described in detail for larly to thecorresponding parts of an ordinary the purpose of illustration, but itwill .be obvious that numerous modifications and variations may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

A shell comprising a base and a nose and a cylindrical body portioncomposed of longitudinally divided sections, shear pins connecting thesections to said nose and base of said shell, 2. central tube Withinsaid shell the ends of which respectively, a cable coiled within saidshell about said tube and having its ends secured to the base and noserespectively, and means for exploding said shell at a predeterminedinterval after firing whereby the shear pins are broken, therebyallowing the body sections to fall away and cansing the nose and. baseto separate the full length of the cable.

EDWARD BROOKS WISE.

fit into recesses in the base and nose ofthe shell 10

